THELEMA vs LG15 2.0

Thelema is a philosophy of life based on the rule or law, "Do what thou wilt." The ideal of "Do what thou wilt" and its association with the word Thelema goes back to François Rabelais, but was more fully developed and proselytized by Aleister Crowley,who founded a religion named Thelema based on this ideal. The word itself is the English transliteration of the Koine Greek noun θέλημα: "will", from the verb θέλω: to will, wish, purpose. Early Christian writings use the word to refer to the will of God, the human will, and even the will of God's opponent, the Devil.

So, what did the Creators have to say about Thelema?

In an email exchange between the Creators and an LG15 user in the fall of 2006, the following very significant discussion revealed a lot of information about the series and the decisions that have been made to back away from Thelema.

"My email I sent to them was:

"I'm interested to know why the creators took a real religion (Thelema) that has been much maligned in the past, the prophet of Thelema (Aleister Crowley), also much maligned, and make a series that is the very antithesis of Thelema and what Crowley worked his whole life to promulgate. As a Thelemite, it's very disheartening to see my religion maligned and bashed once again, all for nothing. It does not add anything to your series to associate your cult with our religion. So, why do it?"

And their reply was:

"We understand and appreciate your question. Please know that it is not our intention to malign or discredit the Thelema religion. The religion we have created for this series is entirely fictional. It is as much related to fictional Christian cults and secret societies as it is to Thelema."

Well, after that reply from them, I sent the following reply:

"Well, my concern about this is even though you've made a fictional religion for the series, you use the prophet of Thelema, the unicursal hexagram - a symbol of Thelema, and actually write Thelema in Greek at the bottom of your website. You and I both know what you're portraying has nothing to do with Thelema, but by writing out the name of the religion and using these other trappings of the religion, anything you say about Bree's religion makes it seem like you're saying it about Thelema...since you've indicated Thelema so much. I would personally like to see Bree say that she's not a Thelemite...or that her religion isn't Thelema, in the videos. Since you've done so much to align it with Thelema in the minds of the viewers by using these symbols and the actual name of our religion, it would be a very nice gesture to see you distance yourself from a very real religion that some of your viewers hold dear to their hearts. As you can see from the forums and the replies to your videos, people think the religion is Thelema and, if you look at all the elements you've incorporated into the website, you've practically spelled Thelema out for them. So, like I said, it would be a very nice gesture to see Bree distance herself from the religion of Thelema. I personally like the videos and the style of entertainment you've provided, but think it could stand on its own just as well without bashing a religion, however inadvertently, in the process. I really do hope you consider this request. As Thelemites we have endured many lies, malicious and ignorant, about our beliefs and our prophet. It would really be nice of you to distance yourself from that and not add to it. Thank you and 93"

I sent that on November 5th at 12:45 AM. They didn't reply. Gemma's video was on November 9th. So, I took it to be their reply. I sent another email after the video thanking them, they replied to it and said no problem...that they're always out there listening to the fans. I personally am extremely grateful for their going the extra mile on this. It proves they do care about what implications their videos have. As far as the OTO or any other group of Thelemites being related to Bree's religion, I came into the forums to dispel that notion, John Crow, on thelemacoasttocoast, mentioned it in his series and dispelled the notion, and basically Thelemites came out of the woodwork to say "This in no way resembles Thelema". For one, the law of Thelema is "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. Love is the law, love under Will". For a brief explanation of that you can see: http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib2.html . You may not understand that entirely, but it'll give you some idea that it doesn't mean what it appears to at face value. Also, if you read the commentary to the Book of the Law which is here: http://www.hermetic.com/220/crowley-comments.html then you will find where Crowley says "Interference with the will of another is the great sin". So, the very fact that they're trying to force anyone to do anything against their will flies totally in the face of Thelema and is the antithesis of what we believe in. That doesn't take into account the kidnapping and cult-like behaviour. Just the fact they're trying to force someone to do something is bad enough. Well, I hope this helps. Oh...as far as Thelema being at the bottom in Greek, Darbyite Designs is there also. Darbyite refers to the Plymouth Brethren. You can't take one as referring to Bree's religion and not the other...there are two religions represented on the bottom of that website, both having nothing to do with each other, but everything to do with Crowley."

The design of LG15.com has changed since those days but now with Lord Carruthers coat of arms we see the symbol for Thelema is back:



From Final Appeal on LGPedia:

Jonas: "We know Bree's Elder's connected to the coat of arms requesting for the marionette. (Cut to a shot of the coat of arms.) Centuries old, possibly from England... (Cut to a close up of the symbol and motto.) The symbol and the quote on it are the work of Crowley. (Cut to a close up of the crest.) And the crest - the things sitting at the top - are two back-to-back phoenixes, which... symbolizes some sort of resurrection."

So, what does it all mean?

Leave a comment below with your theory for why the symbol for Thelema is "back in play". To make it interesting why don't you also throw in the "Phoenix', the Resurrection and Revelations....oh, and of course, Aleister Crowley.